Cooling attachment for high speed reversing mill



June 25, 1968 DIOLOT 3,389,590

COOLING ATTACHMENT FOR HIGH SPEED REVERSING MILL Filed Aug. 19, 1965 INVENTOR LUCIEN DIOLOT ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,389,590 COOLING ATTACHMENT FOR HIGH SPEED REVERSING MILL Lucien Diolot, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, assignor to Societe Nouvelle Spidem, Paris, France, a corporation of France Filed Aug. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 481,018 Claims priority, applicgation grance, Aug. 25, 1964,

7 Claims. ((31. 72-201 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to cooling means for high speea rolling mills and, more particularly, to single stand reversing units capable of rapid cold working of strip material, such as aluminum and its alloys.

In single stand mills of the type referred to above, which are equipped with power-driven working rolls and reels, the system of rolling, as is known to those acquainted in the art, is entirely different from that utilized in the continuous mills. Preparatory to undertaking the rolling of a coil of metal, it is first placed upon an uncoiling reel and the free end is uncoiled sutficiently to pass through the rolls and thereupon attached to the opposite reel. Tension is then applied through the reels suflicient to draw the strip tightly over the leveling rolls mounted on each side of the mill and the rolls are forced together by the screw-downs until the material is compressed to the reduction required for the first pass. Thereupon, the reels and rolls are then started revolving until the end of the strip is about to leave the reel. The rolls are then adjusted to the reduction for the second pass and the mill is reversed, and this procedure is followed until the desired gauge is reached for the strip being rolled.

The severe and rapid cold working of the strip during this process generates a great deal of heat which not only raises the temperature of the strip, but also that of the rolls.- It has long been a problem in the metal rolling industry to keep both the strip and the rolls cooled to a constant temperature. This has been accomplished in various ways, such as by a system of flood lubrication in which a water, soluble oil, or a mixture of oils is directed in small jets or streams against the bodies of the rolls and the surface of the strip. a

.lt is also known to use a single stand reduction unit and when the product has been passed entirely through the mill and wound upon a spool or reel, it is stored and cooled while a previously rolled coil of strip is then once again introduced into the mill and once again rolled to acomplish further reduction. Of course, it is apparent that such a procedure is not suited to rapid production of a strip with the final desired gauge.

Accordingly, it is one of the objects of this invention to provide an improved coolant means for producing flat, rolled products of a uniform gauge and a high surface finish in high speed mills where several housings are positioned in series.

It is another object of the invention to provide a cooling arrangement for the working rolls and the rolled ice product in a rolling mill which is provided with an indefinite number of rolling stands or housings positioned inseries for high speed rolling of flat, rolled products, wherein the introductory set of rollers are provided with spray means positioned with their flow patterns converging in the path of travel of the strip as it enters the nip of the first set of rollers of the mill, and the last set of spray means are positioned within a receptacle with their converging flow being directed toward the strip as it is passed into the nip of the last stand of rolls so that the strip will be wrung or squeezed in such a manner that substantially no coolant will be left on the surface of the strip to corrode the same when it is wound upon its storage reel.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel assemblable receptacle including a bottom and upstanding spaced side walls joined thereto with the terminal end portions of the opposite edges of each of the upstanding spaced walls being vertically disposed adjacent to the pairs of working rolls and adapted to conform thereto so as to cool the diametrically opposed peripheral faces of the rolls as well as the strip material passing therebetween.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a sectionalized receptacle, each complemental portion of which may be assembled between the working rolls by lateral introduction of each of the half portions thereof from opposite sides of the spaced stands of the mill whereupon they may be suitably fastened at their bottom portions in abutting relation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide valving means for controlling the quantity of coolant contained in the spaced receptacles.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the ensuing specification taken in conjunction with the drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view partially in section and partially in elevation showing a series of rolling mill stands and the coolant system therefor; and

FIG. 2 is a View on line 22 of FIG. '1.

Turning at this time to the drawings, there is shown schematically a series of rolling mill stands 10, 20 and 30 which are to be considered as merely representative and not limitative of the number of stands that may be used to reduce the cross-sectional area of the strip mate rial, as aforesaid.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the rolling stands comprise the usual upper and lower back-up rolls and the custom: ary work-engaging rolls. Also, as shown in this view, there is a reel :11 from which the strip material 12 is fed through the working mill rolls and at the exit end or beyond the last rolling mill stand there is positioned a take-up reel 13 adapted to store the rolled product.

Although it is not shown in this drawing, suitable means are provided for driving the reels 11 and 13 and the work-engaging rolls so as .to maintain a suitable and constant tension on the roled product.

Also, the screw-downs are actuated to compress the rolls to achieve the reduction required for the first pass through the stands all of which is well-known in this art.

As illustrated best in FIG. 1, a series of paired spray means 14-18 are arranged to provide a convergent flow of fluid which, as shown, is directed toward the strip material and substantially at the nips of the work-engaging rolls as the material progresses through the respective passes of the stands.

The initial set or pair of convergent spray means, i.e.

14- 14, are positioned adjacent to the feed inlet of the I strip to the first set of rolls (the right end of mill stands as viewed in the drawing of FIG. 1). The remainder of the paired spray means 15-1-8, respectively, are arranged so that their flow patterns, being also convergent, are

directed toward the nips of the adjacent pairs of rolls as well as substantially at opposite sides of the strip material passing therethrough. It will also be noted that all of the spray means, except 14, are located within tanks or receptacles '21 and 22 of identical structure, each of which comprises a complemental half section which may be assembled by any suitable fastening means.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the longitudinally extending bottom wall 26 is interrupted by a semi-cylindrical portion 23, 24 which cooperates to provide a means defining an opening or perforation inthe bottom wall of the assembled receptacle within which a suitable valve means 25 may be positioned and adapted to control the level of liquid in .the receptacle. From bottom wall 26 there extend two upstanding spaced side walls '27 each having a horizontal uper edge 28. It is seen from FIG. 1 that bottom 26 lies below the axis of the lower work engaging rolls while the upper edge 28 is disposed above the axis of the upper work engaging rolls. Each side wall 27 has two opposed terminal edges 29 which are of arcuate configuration to conform to the perimeter of the vertically arranged upper and lower rolls in each of stands 10, 20 and 30. During operation, those faces of the strip engaging rolls that are turned towards either of the receptacles 21 or 22 and are disposed between the two spaced imaginary horizontal planes containing the bottom wall 26, on the one hand, and the upper edge '28, on the other hand, are submerged in the liquid coolant. It follows that the strip 12 extending between two stands and engaged by the upper and lower rolls is also submerged in the coolant.

It is also contemplated -to be within the scope of this invention to have the top edge portions of the receptacle of slightly unequal height with the lower edge being provided with any suitable outlet or overflow means so that the effluent which spills from the receptacle can be fed to a sump or refrigerating means and thence to a pump for return to the spray means.

The valve means 25 referred to hereinbefore may perform a plurality of functions, such a sthat of acting as a draining means for ther eceptacles, a means to till the receptacles when rolling is to be undertaken, and with the inclusion of suitable control means may compensate for the quantity of coolant which is normally introduced to the spray means so that only a limited amount of overflow is passed to the sump or refrigerating means.

Although only one embodiment of the invention has been depicted and described, it will be apparent that this embodiment is illustrative in nature and that a number of modifications in the apparatus and variations in its end use may be etfected without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

That which is claimed is:

'1. In a rolling mill of the type including at least two pairs of spaced and horizontally aligned strip engaging rolls, the rolls in each pair being vertically disposed and including an upper strip engaging roll and a lower strip engaging roll, cooling means for applying a liquid medium to cool said rolls and the strip engaged thereby during rolling, the improvement in said cooling means comprising,

(A) a receptacle disposed between said pairs of rolls and adapted to contain liquid coolant, said receptacle having (1) a bottom wall disposed substantially horizontally in a plane below the axis of said lower strip engaging rolls,

('2) two upstanding side walls joined to said bottom wall and having a transversal space between one another that is smaller than the length of said rolls and greater than the width of said work, each said side wall extending parallel to the rolling direction and having (a) substantially horizontally extending upper edge disposed in a horizontal plane above the axis of said upper strip engaging rolls,

(b) two oppositely disposed terminal edges adjacent said work engaging rolls and formed complementally to the perimeter thereof and conforming thereto, the space within said receptacle being delimited by said bottom wall, said side walls and those face portions of said lower rolls and said upper rolls disposed respectively above said bottom wall and below said upper edge of said side walls and turned towards said receptacle,

(B) means introducing liquid coolant into said receptacle, and

(0) adjustable draining means disposed in at least one of said walls of said receptacle to control the level of liquid coolant therein, said face portions of said upper and lower rolls and said strip between said pairs of spaced rolls adapted to be totally submerged in said liquid coolant.

2. An improved cooling means as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means introducing liquid coolant into the receptacle includes plural means positioned within and adjacent to the opposite ends of its longitudinal extremity for directing a coolant medium in convergent streams 0 toward the traveling strip and substantially at the nip of the work-engaging rolls.

3. 'An improved cooling means as claimed in claim 2, wherein the means for directing the coolant medium comprise spray nozzles.

4. An improved cooling means as claimed in claim 2, wherein the coolant being fed to the directing means therefor is furnished from a separate source of supply than that feeding the receptacle.

5. An improved cooling means as claimed in claim 1, wherein said adjustable draining means includes valve means positioned in one of said walls of said receptacle to control the level of the coolant medium therein.

6. An improved cooling means as claimed in claim 5, wherein the valve means is automatically controlled from a remote station.

'1'. An improved cooling means as claimed in claim 5, wherein a series of spacedly arranged receptacles have conduit means connecting the several valving means thereof so that the efiluent may be discharged to a sump.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,575,226 3/1926 Pichler 220-72 1,802,598 4/ 1931 Goldberg 206-52 2,067,514 1/1937 Prinks 72-45 2,140,289 12/1938 Hurtt et al. 72-43 2,230,897 2/1941 Bain et al. 72-201 J CHARLES W. LA-NHAM, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD J. HERBST, Examiner.

E. M. COMBS, Assistant Examiner. 

